British general election of 2010On May 6, 2010, British voters delivered to the House of Commons a hung Parliament—the first time a single party had not achieved a majority since the February 1974 election. At 65 percent, turnout was up 4 percent over 2005, when Tony Blair had led his Labour Party to its third successive majority. In 2010, however, Blair was not a candidate, having turned over the reins of government to Gordon Brown, his longtime chancellor of the Exchequer. Sagging poll numbers for Labour and a resurgent Conservative Party under the youthful David Cameron brought the assumption that the Conservatives would cruise to a parliamentary majority for the first time since 1997.

In the months before the 2010 election, the Conservatives held a solid lead in the public opinion polls, but there were persistent lingering doubts about the readiness of Cameron and his team to govern, and, as election day neared, the Conservative lead declined. The 2010 campaign brought a novelty to the British general election campaign—televised debates between the leaders of the three main parties: Brown of Labour, Cameron of the Conservatives, and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats. (The Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party protested their exclusion.) This brought great anticipation and introduced a wild card into the campaign. Clegg’s performance in the first debate brought a great surge to the Liberal Democrats, with some polls released in the days after the debate putting the Lib Dems in first or second place, ahead of Labour. Following the second and third debates, however, some of the surge by the Lib Dems receded, and the Conservative lead grew once again.

On election night the Lib Dems finished a distant third, with 57 seats (a net loss of 5 seats from 2005). The Conservatives, at 306 seats, emerged as the largest party by far but without a majority, gaining 97 seats over their notional 2005 total (i.e., basing the 2005 results on the 2010 constituency boundaries). The clear loser was Labour, which lost 91 of its seats and fared particularly poorly in the south of England. (One English seat, Thirsk and Malton, was uncontested on election day, because of the death of the United Kingdom Independence Party candidate.) Indeed, all but nine of the seats the Conservatives won were in England.

The election also brought some other surprises. The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland won its first seat ever in the House of Commons, ousting Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson. The Green Party also won its first seat, capturing the seat of Brighton Pavilion along the southern coast. And, surprisingly, though there was a strong swing away from Labour in much of the country, the Labour share of the vote held up rather well in Scotland and Wales.

Clegg indicated that the Conservatives, as the largest party, should have the right to attempt to form a government, but, with no party securing a majority and with most parties unlikely coalition partners for the Conservatives, it remained unclear who would become prime minister. Negotiations between Cameron and Clegg began in earnest on May 7, and on May 10 Brown announced his intention to resign as leader of the Labour Party. The following day Brown announced his resignation as prime minister and as leader of the Labour Party, and Cameron subsequently became prime minister.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government—Britain’s first since World War II—with Clegg taking the post of deputy prime minister. Conservatives William Hague (foreign secretary) and George Osborne (chancellor of the Exchequer) were among the leading cabinet appointments. Several Liberal Democrats, including Chris Huhne (secretary of state for energy and climate change), also took cabinet posts. As part of the power-sharing agreement, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems agreed to set out a plan for deficit reduction in an emergency budget to be presented within 50 days of taking office. They also agreed to a fixed five-year Parliament that called for the next election to be held on the first Thursday in May in 2015, though dissolution of Parliament and a subsequent election could come earlier through the vote of 55 percent or more of the House of Commons. The coalition partnership called for a referendum on alternative vote, whereby voters indicate a first and second preference, with the second preference being counted only if no candidate receives a majority—which fell short of the Lib Dems’ goal of full proportional representation.

In 1997, after 18 years in opposition and four successive general election defeats, the Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won a landslide victory over the Conservatives: Labour won 418 seats and a 179-seat House of Commons majority and reduced the Conservatives to a rump of 165 MPs. Labour went on to win two successive victories. In 2001 it secured the largest-ever second-term majority (167 seats), and in 2005 it was returned again, though with a reduced majority of 66 seats (see British Election of 2005).

After 2003 Labour experienced a severe decline in its public standing, not least because of public unease with Blair’s role in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. In October 2004 Blair announced that he would seek a third term as prime minister but would not stand for a fourth term. The likeliest successor was Brown, Blair’s chancellor of the Exchequer since 1997.

Blair and Brown were at one time close partners in a battle to modernize the Labour Party (Brown reluctantly agreed to step aside in 1994 when Blair decided to seek the Labour Party leadership), but by 2005 their respective supporters appeared quite bitterly divided. Many loyal to Blair claimed that Brown’s supporters had been undermining Blair’s leadership for several years; indeed, in June 2007 a leaked document surfaced showing that Blair had considered removing Brown as chancellor of the Exchequer after the 2005 election. In September 2006, shortly after the Labour Party fared poorly in local elections, Blair announced that he would step down as prime minister within a year. Brown pledged his support for Blair, and Blair in turn later backed Brown to succeed him as Labour Party leader and prime minister. Brown faced no formal opposition in the campaign to succeed Blair as Labour Party leader, and on June 27, 2007, three days after he officially became Labour Party leader, Brown became prime minister.

Brown and Labour initially got a bounce in the public opinion polls. Several incidents—within 48 hours of his taking office, two car bombs were placed in London, and a third vehicle was driven into Glasgow Airport; June floods brought a swift response from Brown in the shape of support for local councils and on flood defenses; and an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was quickly contained—rallied support for the government and enhanced Brown’s reputation but overshadowed his attempts to present himself as a man with fresh ideas for the future. No longer trailing the Conservatives in the polls, Labour took the lead, tempting Brown to call a snap election in order to secure his own mandate, but a dramatic shift back to the Conservatives in September 2007 quelled such speculation. Brown’s flirtation with calling an election ended with an eventual decision that there would be no such election before 2009, crystallizing the sentiment among many that Brown dithered in making decisions. By December 2007 the Conservatives held a lead of about 13 percent in the polls—their largest lead since 1989.

Brown’s claim to competent economic stewardship—in 1997 he had promised that the days of economic “boom and bust” were over—was undermined in 2008. His poll ratings suffered from a sharp decline in consumer confidence brought on, in large measure, from a steep drop in housing prices and an increase in inflation. There were murmurings of an internal leadership to challenge for the next election. But in September 2008 a global economic crisis brought a firm and steady response from Brown, for which the prime minister was widely praised. Labour’s standing recovered slightly, effectively forestalling any potential challenge to Brown. He rallied the party faithful at the party conference in Manchester in September 2008 with an exceptionally effective speech, the most memorable line of which was “This is no time for a novice.” The statement was ostensibly directed at David Cameron, the Conservatives’ relatively young and inexperienced leader.

Still, Labour continued to trail the Conservatives, and on June 4, 2009, the party suffered a dismal national election result, securing only 15.7 percent of the vote across the British mainland in elections to the European Parliament. Immediately thereafter James Purnell, the secretary of state for work and pensions, resigned from Brown’s cabinet. In his resignation letter, Purnell wrote: “I now believe your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more, not less likely.…I am therefore calling on you to stand aside to give our Party a fighting chance of winning.” Brown’s allies worked furiously to ensure that no other minister followed Purnell’s example. None did, but Brown’s authority was visibly weakened.

Labour’s morale took a further hit in September 2009 when, just hours after Brown delivered his main speech to the party’s annual conference, The Sun—the country’s biggest-selling daily newspaper—announced that it was switching support from Labour to the Conservatives. To most observers, a Labour loss in 2010 appeared inevitable, and potential leadership challengers began positioning themselves for the postelection fight that would likely follow. Party insiders hoped that the fratricide that had followed Labour’s 1979 loss and led to 18 years in opposition would be avoided.

A poll in December 2009 showed Labour trailing the Conservatives by only nine points and gave the party some hope that it might pull off a dramatic comeback victory, much as John Major did in 1992, or at least force a hung Parliament, which had last occurred in the February 1974 election. Still, Brown’s woes continued into 2010; on January 6, in yet another effort to dump him as party leader before the election, former Labour cabinet ministers Patricia Hewitt and Geoffrey Hoon called on Labour MPs to hold a secret ballot for the Labour leadership. Their attempt ultimately was unsuccessful, but it again underscored the precarious position of Brown and the unease within the party as Labour faced the prospect of losing a general election.

The slow rise of the Conservatives

In 1997 the Conservatives were in disarray. Their party had won its fewest seats since 1906. It had been wiped out in Scotland and Wales. It was bitterly divided over European policy. The party name had become synonymous with sleaze, due to several scandals that had popped up during the 1992–97 period. And many of its leading figures had lost their seats in Parliament at the 1997 poll and were thus ineligible to contest the party leadership election that followed.

John Major immediately announced his resignation as party leader after the 1997 election. William Hague, who in 1995 at age 34 had become Britain’s youngest cabinet minister, threw his hat in the ring against formidable foes, such as Kenneth Clarke (Major’s chancellor of the Exchequer and the party’s most pro-European figure), Michael Howard (the former home secretary), Peter Lilley (the former social security minister), and John Redwood (a leading anti-European who had challenged Major unsuccessfully for the party leadership in 1995). At that time MPs chose the party leader. Clarke finished first in the initial round of balloting, and Howard was eliminated. Lilley withdrew from consideration, and both Howard and Lilley endorsed Hague, who finished second to Clarke in the second round of voting. Finally, Hague emerged as the victor in the third round.

Hague set about reviving his party’s fortunes, announcing a series of reforms that would bring greater internal democracy to the party, including giving local party members a say in future leadership elections. At his first party conference as Conservative leader, Hague sought to soften the party’s image by declaring support for more compassionate policies. He also advocated “understanding and tolerance of people making their own decisions about how they lead their lives,” including accepting the rights of people to have same-sex relationships or to bear and raise children outside of marriage. Hague’s speech marked a clear break with the strictly “pro-family” ethos of the Thatcher years. Still, Hague’s Conservatives were no match for Blair’s New Labour government, and in 2001 the Tories performed almost as disastrously as they had in 1997—winning just a single additional seat.

Hague stepped down as leader in 2001 and was succeeded by Iain Duncan Smith in the first election in which party members selected a leader (Clarke was the top vote getter among MPs, but Duncan Smith defeated him with some three-fifths of the vote among party members). Duncan Smith, however, was unable to make much of a dent in Labour’s lead over the Conservatives and began to face dwindling support within the party as members questioned his ability to defeat Blair at the next general election. In October 2003 Duncan Smith lost a no-confidence vote, and on November 6 Howard, unopposed, was elected to head the Conservative Party. Howard repeatedly criticized Blair (and, implicitly, U.S. Pres. George W. Bush) for having allegedly issued false information ahead of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The Conservatives made gains in the House of Commons in 2005, increasing their number of seats from 166 to 198, but they still appeared unelectable to great swathes of the public. Shortly after the election, Howard resigned the leadership.

Clarke once again stood for the party leadership, but he was eliminated in the first round of balloting. Eventually the contest came down to a battle between David Cameron, a 39-year-old centrist with no government experience, and David Davis, a 56-year-old right-winger who had been brought up by his mother in a south London council house (a form of public housing) and served as minister for Europe in the 1990s. A charismatic speaker, Cameron quickly captured the imagination of party members. He defeated Davis by 68–32 percent in the ballot of party members and became party leader on December 6.

Cameron immediately signaled a shift away from the right and toward more centrist policies, including greater emphases on improving public services, redistributing wealth to Britain’s poor, and combating global poverty. His leadership brought a fresh Conservative face to the voters, though he was attacked by Labour for his aristocratic pedigree (he came from a wealthy family and went to Eton and Oxford).

The following year, with Iraq weighing heavily on Prime Minister Blair, Labour’s poll ratings began to drop, and many Labourites considered Blair an electoral liability. On Sept. 7, 2006, Blair announced his intention to resign within 12 months.

The Conservatives were the beneficiaries of Labour’s decline. Cameron sought to shed his party’s right-wing image, which had dented its popularity for the previous 10 years. In contrast to his three predecessors, he emphasized that cutting taxes would not be a priority for the next Conservative government; economic stability and strong public services would come first. He also sought to put his party at the heart of the debates about civil liberties and climate change—causes previously more associated with politicians to the left of centre. At his party’s annual conference in October 2006, Cameron told Conservative activists, “In these past 10 months we have moved back to the ground on which this Party’s success has always been built: the centre ground of British politics.”

Cameron’s energetic, moderate, and youthful appearance appealed to many voters. In 2006, for the first time in 14 years, the Conservatives established a sustained opinion-poll lead over Labour, averaging 5–7 percent. The Conservatives’ lead over Labour remained over the subsequent years, though Gordon Brown’s election as prime minister brought a brief resurgence for Labour. Still, as a general election drew near, an air of inevitability of a Conservative victory began to pervade the political atmosphere, and many began to consider Cameron a prime minister-in-waiting.

The Liberal Democrats and other parties

While almost all the focus was on the fight between Labour and the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) were becoming a formidable force in national politics, particularly since 1997. In that year they achieved a breakthrough, doubling their parliamentary representation to 46 seats. In 2001 they increased that to 52, and in 2005 they gained a further 10 seats to bring their total to 62. Many observers figured a Conservative revival in 2010 would wipe away many of the Lib Dems’ gains, but others also believed that the party might offset that by making some gains in Labour-held seats. Some political analysts rated the chance for a hung Parliament—in which no single party achieves a majority—as a potentially likely outcome, leading many to wonder who party leader Nick Clegg might throw his support to and what extractions he might be able to squeeze from the Conservatives or Labour.

Outside England, additional parties are key players because of their regional appeal. In Scotland Alex Salmond’s Scottish National Party won 6 seats and nearly 18 percent of the vote in 2005 and wrested control of the Scottish Parliament from Labour in 2007. In Wales the Plaid Cymru won 3 of the 40 seats in Wales in 2005 and captured 12 percent of the vote there. In Northern Ireland politics are dominated by regional parties rather than the mainland British ones. The Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin enjoy support from the Roman Catholic community in Northern Ireland, while the Ulster Unionist Party and Democratic Unionist Party compete for the votes of the Protestant majority. In a hung Parliament, any of these parties could theoretically hold the balance of power and help one party form a government.

2005 general election results

The results of the 2005 election are in the table. For a narrative, see British Election of 2005.

This section contains links to areas of Encyclopædia Britannica’s coverage of the United Kingdom and its politics that readers will find useful for understanding the 2010 British general election. Those sections were most recently revised by Peter Kellner, president of YouGov PLC, and Patrick Joyce, a history professor at the University of Manchester.

Constitutional Framework provides an overview of the British constitution and government.Political Process describes the two-party system, as well as the role of women in British politics.Labour in Power Since 1997 offers detail on the Blair and Brown years.

Britannica’s Year in Review United Kingdom coverage, written by Peter Kellner, provides a detailed history of Britain since 2005.

2005, along with a special feature on the British general election of 2005.2006200720082009

The political systems and processes in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are described in detail in the following articles.

EnglandScotlandWalesNorthern Ireland

Readers might also find the following articles useful.

House of CommonsHouses of ParliamentParliamentPrime Minister

Key events since 2005

By-electionsJuly 14, 2005: CheadleMark Hunter of the Liberal Democrats holds the seat vacated by the death of Patsy Calton. Liberal Democrats vote share increased by 3.3 percent.Sept. 29, 2005: LivingstonJim Devine of Labour holds the seat vacated by the death of Robin Cook. Swing from Labour to the Scottish National Party: 10.2 percent.Feb. 9, 2006: Dunfermline and West FifeWillie Rennie gains the seat for the Liberal Democrats following the death of Labour’s Rachel Squire. Swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats: 16.2 percent.June 29, 2006: Bromley and ChislehurstBob Neill of the Conservatives holds the seat vacated by the death of Eric Forth. Conservative vote share dropped 11.1 percent.June 29, 2006: Blaenau GwentDai Davies, an Independent, holds the seat vacated by the death of Independent Peter Law (formerly a Labour MP). Independent vote share dropped 12.0 percent.July 19, 2007: Ealing SouthallVirendra Sharmar of Labour holds the seat vacated by the death of Piara Khabra. Swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats: 5.2 percent.July 19, 2007: SedgefieldPhil Wilson of Labour holds the seat vacated by the resignation from Parliament of Tony Blair. Swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats: 11.1 percent.May 22, 2008: Crewe and NantwichEdward Timpson gains the seat for the Conservatives following the death of Labour’s Gwyneth Dunwoody. Swing from Labour to the Conservatives: 17.6 percent.June 26, 2008: HenleyJohn Howell of the Conservatives holds the seat vacated by the resignation of Boris Johnson (elected mayor of London). Swing from Labour to the Conservatives: 16.5 percent. July 10, 2008: Haltemprice and HowdenDavid Davis of the Conservatives holds the seat following his own resignation over the government’s plan to pass legislation allowing the detention of terror suspects without charge for 42 days. Conservative vote share increased 24.1 percent.July 24, 2008: Glasgow EastJohn Mason gains the seat for the Scottish National Party following the resignation of Labour’s David Marshall. Swing from Labour to the Scottish National Party: 22.5 percent.Nov. 6, 2008: GlenrothesLindsay Roy of Labour holds the seat following the death of John MacDougall. Swing from Labour to the Scottish National Party: 5.0 percent.July 23, 2009: Norwich NorthChloe Smith gains the seat for the Conservatives following the resignation of Labour’s Ian Gibson. Swing from Labour to the Conservatives: 16.5 percent.Nov. 12, 2009: Glasgow North EastWillie Bain of Labour wins the seat vacated by the resignation of Speaker Michael Martin (formerly a Labour MP).

Day by day

This section provides a look at some notable events in the United Kingdom since the last general election.

2005May 5, 2005The British general election of 2005 returns Prime Minister Tony Blair to office for a third term—unprecedented for a Labour Party leader—but with his smallest majority so far, down to 66 from 167 in 2001. May 6, 2005Michael Howard surprises observers by announcing that he will step down as leader of the Conservative Party before the next election.May 23, 2005Employees of the BBC stage a 24-hour strike to protest company plans to eliminate some 3,800 jobs over the next three years. June 3, 2005Murder charges are brought against a man accused of killing Robert McCartney outside a bar in Belfast; the attack, which horrified citizens, is believed to have been an act of the Provisional Irish Republican Army against Sinn Féin, the political wing of the IRA.June 24, 2005In a local election postponed from May 5 because of the death of the Liberal Democrats’ candidate, Conservative candidate Sir Patrick Cormack wins Staffordshire South’s seat in the House of Commons; it was the first British election in more than 50 years to be delayed by the death of a candidate.July 1, 2005Tony Blair takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union.July 6, 2005At its meeting in Singapore, the International Olympic Committee chooses London as the site of the Olympic Games to be held in summer 2012.July 7, 2005In a coordinated terror attack late in the morning rush hour in London, bombs go off almost simultaneously on three subway trains and close to an hour later on a double-decker bus, leaving 56 dead, including the men carrying the bombs; a group affiliated with al-Qaeda claims responsibility.July 8, 2005 At the close of the G-8 meeting in Scotland, Tony Blair declares, “There is no hope in terrorism nor any future in it worth living. And it is hope that is the alternative to this hatred.”July 11, 2005At its general synod in York, the Church of England’s House of Bishops votes to begin the process of removing legal obstacles to women’s becoming bishops in the church; women have been ordained as Episcopalian priests since 1994.July 21, 2005During the lunch hour in London, bombs in three subway trains and one double-decker bus fail to go off as only their detonators explode, creating panic but no casualties.July 28, 2005In what is viewed as a turning point, the Irish Republican Army formally renounces the use of violence in Northern Ireland, telling its members to disarm and inviting inspection to verify its disarmament. Aug. 1, 2005The Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain announces that the British Army has begun withdrawing its forces from Northern Ireland and intends to recall about half its forces over the next two years.Aug. 12, 2005A one-day walkout by British Airways employees in sympathy with catering employees of Gate Gourmet ends after stranding 40,000 passengers at Heathrow Airport in London and delaying 70,000 other passengers worldwide.Aug. 22, 2005Violent fighting between Roman Catholic and Protestant young people continues for a third straight night in Belfast; the fighting had begun after a televised association football (soccer) match.Aug. 23, 2005France, Germany, and Great Britain cancel the resumption of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program; the talks were to have started on August 31. Sept. 26, 2005An independent monitoring group headed by John De Chastelain confirms that the Irish Republican Army has completely destroyed its arsenal of weapons in Northern Ireland to the monitors’ satisfaction.Oct. 12, 2005Iran requests a resumption of negotiations over its nuclear program with Great Britain, Germany, and France.Oct. 31, 2005In Northern Ireland the Protestant paramilitary organization the Loyalist Volunteer Force announces that it has disbanded and its members have been ordered to cease operations.Nov. 23, 2005A law goes into effect in England and Wales that permits bars, restaurants, and supermarkets to sell alcoholic beverages later than 11:00 PM, with even 24-hour licenses available.Dec. 6, 2005The Conservative Party chooses David Cameron as the party’s leader. Polls released in subsequent days by Ipsos-MORI and YouGov give the Conservatives a slight lead over Labour—one of their first advantages since Labour came to power in 1997. Dec. 19, 2005In Belfast same-sex couples exchange vows in the first civil partnership ceremonies to be legal in the United Kingdom; the law comes into effect on the following day in Scotland and the day after that in England and Wales.Dec. 21, 2005Representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Iran meet in Berlin and agree to resume talks about Iran’s nuclear program in January 2006.

2006Jan. 12, 2006Jack Straw, Britain’s foreign minister, joins the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the European Union to announce the end of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, saying the United Nations should take up the problem.Jan. 27, 2006As part of the worldwide campaign against tuberculosis announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switz., Britain pledges about £40 million against the disease in India.Feb. 6, 2006A meeting is held in Northern Ireland to begin negotiations to revive the joint Protestant-Catholic administration that collapsed in 2002.Feb. 15, 2006The House of Commons passes a law championed by Prime Minister Tony Blair that makes the glorification of terrorism a crime.March 1, 2006On St. David’s Day, Queen Elizabeth II opens the new Richard Rogers-designed Senedd (Welsh parliament) building in Cardiff, Wales.March 26, 2006A ban on smoking in enclosed public places goes into effect in Scotland; it is the first such law in Great Britain.March 28, 2006Local government workers in Great Britain stage a 24-hour strike to protest a plan to raise the age at which a worker would be eligible to collect a full pension.April 21, 2006Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday.May 5, 2006Prime Minister Tony Blair reshuffles his cabinet; among other changes, Charles Clark is replaced as home secretary by John Reid, and Jack Straw is replaced as foreign secretary by Margaret Beckett, the first woman to serve in that post.May 15, 2006Northern Ireland’s legislative assembly meets for the first time since it was elected in November 2003 under temporary rules, in the hope that the power-sharing government that was suspended in 2002 can be revived.May 22, 2006Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley turns down a proposal by Sinn Féin that he serve as first minister of a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland.June 1, 2006After meeting in Vienna, officials of the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom agree to offer Iran a package of incentives in an attempt to resolve the nuclear crisis with that country.July 8, 2006The General Synod of the Church of England agrees to allow women for the first time to serve as bishops.July 12, 2006Protestant parades take place peacefully in Northern Ireland, making it possible for the first time since 1970 for the army to remain off the streets while parades take place.Aug. 1, 2006The day after NATO assumed command of international forces in southern Afghanistan, three British soldiers are killed in an ambush in Helmand province.Aug. 3, 2006The Bank of England surprises observers by raising interest rates a quarter point to 4.75 percent in the first raise in the rate in two years.Aug. 10, 2006British authorities say that they have arrested 24 men who planned to blow up airplanes heading to the United States, by using liquid explosives that they intended to carry on board and mix into lethal explosives during the flight; governments of both the United Kingdom and the United States immediately ban all liquids in carry-on luggage.Aug. 22, 2006Iran responds to a proposal from the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, ignoring a demand to suspend uranium enrichment by August 31 but offering substantive talks on an undefined proposal of its own.Sept. 2, 2006A British Royal Air Force plane crashes in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, and the 14 military personnel aboard are killed.Sept. 7, 2006Tony Blair declares his intention to step down as British prime minister within the next year.Sept. 10, 2006In a meeting in Ramallah in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority Pres. Mahmoud Abbas and British Prime Minister Tony Blair discuss the possibility of a Palestinian unity government, after which Abbas travels to Gaza for negotiations with Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.Sept. 18, 2006For the first time negotiators from Spain, the United Kingdom, and Gibraltar reach an agreement on Gibraltar, which Spain ceded to Britain in 1713, and sign a series of accords to improve border crossings and transport and telecommunication links between Gibraltar and Spain. Oct. 4, 2006In Northern Ireland, the Independent Monitoring Commission reports that the Irish Republican Army appears to have ceased engaging in terrorist operations and is no longer engaged in criminal enterprises.Oct. 9, 2006In Northern Ireland, Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley for the first time ever holds formal talks with Archbishop Sean Baptist Brady of the Roman Catholic Church; both sides characterize the talks as constructive.Oct. 30, 2006Demolition of the infamous Maze prison outside Belfast, N.Ire., begins.Nov. 9, 2006The Bank of England raises interest rates a quarter of 1 percent to 5 percent, the highest rate since August 2001.Nov. 10, 2006The United Kingdom and Ireland agree that negotiations between Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists toward a power-sharing government have advanced enough to meet the first deadline on an agreed timetable.Nov. 16, 2006The British government announces that a transitional assembly for Northern Ireland will be installed on November 24 and elections for a permanent assembly will take place on March 7, 2007. Dec. 25, 2006British and Iraqi forces storm a police station in Basra, Iraq, killing seven people and rescuing 127 prisoners who had been tortured and faced likely execution; the police unit had been infiltrated by death squads.

2007Jan. 3, 2007For the first time in its 900-year history, a woman is appointed to join the Yeoman Warders, known as the Beefeaters, who guard the Tower of London.Jan. 28, 2007Sinn Féin agrees to endorse the Northern Ireland police force, which is to change over the next 15 years from being mostly Protestant to being proportionately representative of both the Protestant and the Roman Catholic communities.Jan. 30, 2007Michael Levy, Baron Levy, the top Labour Party fund-raiser in Britain, is arrested for the second time in an inquiry into whether seats in the House of Lords had been made available in exchange for financial considerations.Feb. 3, 2007British officials confirm that H5N1 avian flu has been found on a poultry farm in eastern England.Feb. 5, 2007A British soldier killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Basra, Iraq, is the 100th to die in action since the start of the U.S.-led invasion. March 6. 2007After the publication in The Guardian newspaper of a report on developments in the scandal over accusations that seats in the House of Lords were sold for campaign contributions, the British High Court lifts the ban imposed on March 2 that prevented the BBC from reporting on the matter.March 7, 2007Voters in Northern Ireland go to the polls to elect a new legislative assembly. The Democratic Unionist Party finishes first, while Sinn Féin comes in second.March 26, 2007In their first-ever direct talks, Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party and Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin agree to form a power-sharing government for Northern Ireland in a move that will return self-rule to the province for the first time since 2002.April 17, 2007The pound sterling reaches an exchange rate of $2, its highest rate against the U.S. dollar since 1992.April 30, 2007After a one-year trial in London, five men are found guilty of planning to plant fertilizer bombs around London; the trial revealed links between the men and two of the perpetrators of the July 7, 2005, attacks on the city’s transit system.May 3, 2007In a surprise announcement, the Ulster Volunteer Force, a Protestant paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, renounces violence.May 3, 2007The Scottish National Party comes in first in elections to the Scottish Parliament, winning 47 of the body’s 129 seats, and Labour comes in second with 46 seats. May 8, 2007Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionists and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin are sworn in as leader and deputy leader of Northern Ireland’s new executive government.May 17, 2007Alex Salmond of the Scottish National Party is sworn in as first minister of Scotland.June 15, 2007Information Commissioner Richard Thomas rules that the public is entitled to know general details of the expenses claimed by MPs on second homes (the so-called Additional Costs Allowance), but he does not allow the release of itemized lists. June 17, 2007A ceremony is held in London to mark the 25th anniversary of the end of the Falkland Islands War between Britain and Argentina.June 25, 2007British troops withdraw from Northern Ireland’s Bessbrook Mill, halfway between Belfast, N.Ire., and Dublin, Ire.; they had been stationed there since 1970.June 27, 2007Gordon Brown, Tony Blair’s chancellor of the Exchequer, takes over as prime minister.June 29, 2007Two Mercedes sedans that had been packed with explosives to make them into car bombs are discovered in London and defused by police.June 30, 2007Two men drive a burning SUV through the doors of the Glasgow airport; the men are arrested and no one at the airport is injured, but it is assumed that this incident is connected with the discovery the day before of car bombs in London. July 11, 2007Four men who were convicted on July 9 of plotting the failed subway and bus bombings in London on July 21, 2005, two weeks after a similar but successful attack, are sentenced to life in prison. Aug. 4, 2007British authorities burn the bodies of 60 cattle and impose a cordon around a farm in Guildford, Surrey, where foot-and-mouth disease was discovered two days earlier.Oct. 2, 2007During a visit to Baghdad, Prime Minister Gordon Brown says that he plans to withdraw 500 more troops than had previously been planned from southern Iraq by the end of the year.Oct. 8, 2007Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces his intention of withdrawing half the British troops in Iraq by the spring of 2008, citing progress in the training of Iraqi security forces and improvements in the situation in Basra, where British forces are based.Nov. 11, 2007In Northern Ireland the Ulster Defence Association, the main Protestant paramilitary organization, announces that it is laying down its arms but will not turn its weapons over to international disarmament officials.Nov. 20, 2007The British government reveals that in October unencrypted computer disks containing detailed personal and financial information on 25 million people, 40 percent of the country’s population, were lost; a government tax agency had sent the disks unregistered to the National Audit Office, but they never arrived.Dec. 14, 2007Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, sends a long letter to members of the Anglican Communion, chastising the U.S. Episcopal Church for departing from the Communion consensus in its acceptance of homosexuality and also criticizing conservative prelates for encouraging schism in the church.Dec. 22, 2007Officials of the Roman Catholic Church announce that Tony Blair has converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism.

2008Jan. 22, 2008The Information Commissioner calls for the release of expenses claimed by six MPs, including Gordon Brown and former prime minister Tony Blair. Jan. 22, 2008The government announces that, beginning in September, boys and girls of ages 11–14 will be required to take classes to learn how to cook healthy meals. Jan. 27, 2008Paddy Ashdown, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, withdraws from consideration for the post of UN special envoy to Afghanistan in the face of opposition from Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai; Afghanistan objected to the enlarged mandate planned for Ashdown.Jan. 28, 2008In a prelude to further revelations of a parliamentary expenses scandal, Conservative MP Derek Conway is suspended for 10 days for abusing parliamentary expenses for employing his son. Feb. 2, 2008It is revealed that 70 Conservative MPs employ relatives; by April more than 100 MPs would admit to employing relatives.Feb. 18, 2008Prime Minister Gordon Brown holds a news conference to explain and defend the government’s decision to nationalize the failing mortgage lender Northern Rock.March 4, 2008Ian Paisley announces that he will retire in May as first minister of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government and as head of the Democratic Unionist Party.April 1, 2008Defense Minister Desmond Browne announces that a planned drawdown of troops in southern Iraq will be postponed until the security situation in Basra can be stabilized.April 1, 2008A new voluntary register comes into effect for MPs employing relatives; it is set to become required on August 1. April 7, 2008After a six-month investigation, a jury in England finds that the cause of the 1997 accident that killed Princess Diana and her companion, Dodi al-Fayed, was grossly negligent driving and that the paparazzi and the failure of either victim to wear a seat belt also contributed.April 14, 2008Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party elects Peter Robinson to succeed Ian Paisley as head of the party.April 22, 2008At a meeting convened in London by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to discuss the rising price of food throughout the world, the World Food Programme’s executive director, Josette Sheeran, likens the crisis to a “silent tsunami” in the poorest countries of the world. May 1, 2008Colourful Tory candidate Boris Johnson is elected mayor of London as the Labour incumbent, Ken Livingstone, is voted out.May 23, 2008The growing revelations about parliamentary expenses include the disclosure that Gordon Brown and Tony Blair billed taxpayers £15,000 for redoing their kitchens; three weeks later it would be announced that Conservative Party chair Caroline Spelman will face an inquiry over expenses claimed for a nanny. May 28, 2008Britain drops its opposition to a ban on cluster munitions, and in Dublin 111 countries sign a draft agreement to eliminate such weapons. June 16, 2008Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces that Britain and the European Union will freeze the overseas assets of Bank Melli, Iran’s biggest overseas bank, because Iran ignores UN resolutions calling on it to halt uranium enrichment.Oct. 8, 2008Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces a financial plan to offer recapitalization funds to troubled banks in return for ownership stakes and to provide government guarantees to help banks refinance debt; the government will provide £50 billion in this initiative.Nov. 24, 2008Britain announces a plan to cut taxes and increase spending in spite of a large budget deficit in an attempt to stimulate the troubled economy.Nov. 28, 2008The British government takes majority control of the Royal Bank of Scotland.Dec. 3, 2008Queen Elizabeth II formally opens Parliament in London, but the annual ceremony is almost eclipsed by controversy caused by a raid on the offices of opposition MP Daniel Green by Scotland Yard. Dec. 4, 2008The European Court of Human Rights rules that the policy in England and Wales of gathering and keeping fingerprints and DNA of everyone who has been arrested regardless of the outcome of the case violates the right to privacy.

2009Jan. 8, 2009The Bank of England lowers its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point, to 1.5 percent, in an effort to help the economy, which is in recession for the first time in 17 years; the interest rate is at its lowest level since the founding of the bank in 1694.Jan. 19. 2009The government unveils a new plan to shield banks from losses from bad loans in return for an increase in lending on the part of the banks. Jan. 23, 2009The British Office for National Statistics releases data showing that the country officially went into recession in the final quarter of 2008. Feb. 7, 2009Home Secretary Jaqui Smith is criticized for claiming allowances for a second home while living with her sister; she claims she has done nothing wrong. Feb. 16, 2009Former prime minister Tony Blair is named the winner of the Dan David Prize in the Present category in the field of world leadership. March 7, 2009Gunmen attack a British Army base in Antrim, N.Ire., killing two soldiers and wounding two soldiers and two pizza deliverymen; the dissident group the Real IRA claims responsibility for the first attack on the British military in Northern Ireland since 1997.March 9, 2009A police officer in Craigavon, N.Ire., is ambushed and killed, an attack for which the dissident group Continuity IRA would claim responsibility the next day. March 23, 2009Sir Christopher Kelly, chair of the Committee on Standards on Public Life, announces that he will launch an inquiry into taxpayer-funded expenses claimed by MPs; the inquiry would open on June 16.April 22, 2009Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling presents a budget raising the top tax rate, for earners of at least £150,000, from 40 to 50 percent and acknowledges that Britain’s national debt will double to £1.2 trillion by 2013 and that the budget will not be balanced until at least 2018. April 30, 2009A ceremony is held in Basra, Iraq, to observe the end of the British military mission in Iraq. May 7, 2009The Bank of England keeps the benchmark rate at 0.5 percent and announces plans to increase the size of its asset purchase program by £50 billion to £125 billion.May 11, 2009Gordon Brown apologizes on behalf of all MPs for the parliamentary expenses scandal, and the public has a “right to be angry,” as David Cameron would say the next day; during the month, British newspapers begin to reveal the details of expenses claimed by MPs, and dozens of MPs are caught up in the scandal.May 16, 2009David Chaytor becomes the third official of Britain’s governing Labour Party to be punished for abuse of parliamentary expense privileges when he is suspended from Parliament for claiming reimbursement for mortgage payments he had not made.May 19, 2009Michael Martin resigns as speaker of the British House of Commons in the burgeoning expense account scandal; he is the first person forced from that position since 1695. May 20, 2009The British House of Lords suspends two members for soliciting bribes to change laws; it is the first time peers have been suspended since 1642.June 4, 2009Labour captures 15.7 percent of the vote in European Parliament elections, finishing third behind the Conservative Party and the United Kingdom Independence Party; in response, James Purnell resigns as minister of works and pensions and recommends that Prime Minister Gordon Brown also step down.June 15, 2009Gordon Brown charges Sir John Chilcot to head an inquiry into the Iraq War.June 27, 2009The pro-British militias the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando state that they have disarmed and put their weapons beyond use, an assertion that the government of Northern Ireland corroborates.July 21, 2009Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos enters Gibraltar for talks with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Gibraltar’s chief minister, Peter Caruana; no other Spanish minister has visited Gibraltar, which Spain ceded to Britain in 1713, in more than three centuries.Aug. 6, 2009The Bank of England leaves its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5 percent and plans to increase its asset purchase program by an additional £50 billion to £175 billion. Aug. 20, 2009ʿAbd al-Baset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scot., is released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds (he has terminal pancreatic cancer) and returns to a hero’s welcome in Libya, having served 8 years of a 27-year sentence. The decision had been announced by Scottish justice secretary Kenny McAskill and was criticized by the U.S. administration.Oct. 1, 2009In a significant constitutional development, the first-ever Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is sworn in; the independent body replaces the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.Nov. 3, 2009The British government announces that it will provide £31.3 billion in increased aid to the Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank in Scotland in return for changes in the way the banks conduct their business.Nov. 7, 2009In St. Andrews, Scot., at a meeting of finance ministers of the Group of 20, Prime Minister Gordon Brown proposes a tax on financial transactions to create a fund for dealing with any future financial bailouts of banks.Nov. 20, 2009Baroness Catherine Ashton is appointed to be the European Union’s first high representative for foreign affairs and security policy—a compromise after support for Tony Blair to become EU president dissipated.Nov. 24, 2009The inquiry into the Iraq War led by Sir John Chilcot holds its first day of hearings.Dec. 9, 2009Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling announces a one-time 50 percent tax on executive bonuses in banking companies of more than £25,000.

2010Jan. 6, 2010In an unsuccessful effort to dump Gordon Brown as party leader, former Labour cabinet ministers Patricia Hewitt and Geoffrey Hoon call on Labour MPs to hold a secret ballot for the Labour leadership. Jan. 11, 2010Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, announces that he will stand aside temporarily following revelations that his wife, Iris, an MP for Strangford, engaged in an extramarital affair.Jan. 12, 2010Alastair Campbell, former spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair, gives testimony to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War, declaring that he stands by “every single word” of the 2002 report that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and could launch an attack within 45 minutes.Jan. 19, 2010Geoffrey Hoon, former defense secretary, becomes the first former cabinet minister to appear before the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War.Jan. 22, 2010It is announced that Gordon Brown will appear before the Chilcot inquiry before the general election.Jan. 25, 2010Gordon Brown and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen meet in Northern Ireland on policing and justice in an effort to stem a crisis that threatens power sharing between unionists and nationalists; the talks last overnight and eventually include the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin.Jan. 26, 2010The Office of National Statistics reports that the country emerged from recession, growing by 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2009.Jan. 29, 2010Tony Blair, appearing before the Chilcot inquiry and denying that the government manipulated evidence in the run-up to the Iraq War, says that Iraqi Pres. Ṣaddām Ḥussein was a “monster and I believe he threatened not just the region but the world.”Feb. 3, 2010Peter Robinson resumes his role as first minister for Northern Ireland. Feb. 4, 2010A parliamentary report by Sir Thomas Legg, who was appointed in 2009 to conduct an inquiry into allowances claimed by MPs on second homes, recommends that 390 MPs repay some £1.3 million (some £800,000 was already repaid from April 1, 2009); about £163,000 was claimed for gardening and another £105,000 for cleaning.Feb. 5, 2010The Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin finally agree to a deal on justice and policing in the hope of devolving those powers to Northern Ireland by April 12. Feb. 7, 2010Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer announces that three Labour MPs (Elliott Morley, Jim Devine, and David Chaytor) and one Conservative peer (Lord Hanningfield) will be charged with criminal activities related to their expense claims.Feb. 14, 2010The British National Party, which calls for an end to immigration, voluntary repatriation of immigrants, and Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, votes to end its prohibition against party membership for nonwhites. The vote was prompted by a threatened legal injunction against the discriminatory policy by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.Feb. 25, 2010The SNP-led Scottish government publishes a draft bill with its plans to hold a referendum which would give Scottish voters the options that potentially would give the Scottish Parliament more powers or provide Scotland with independence. March 2, 2010Ian Paisley, former Democratic Unionist Party leader and a member of Parliament since 1970, announces that he will not seek reelection in 2010. March 5, 2010Prime Minister Gordon Brown, appearing before the Chilcot inquiry, claims that the invasion of Iraq was the “right decision made for the right reasons.”March 6, 2010The Scottish National Party kicks off its general election campaign. Alex Salmond claimed that the party would be “local champions” for Scotland and that more SNP MPs would mean fewer cuts to Scottish jobs and social services.March 9, 2010The Northern Ireland Assembly approves the deal to devolve policing and justice powers to Northern Ireland. The Ulster Unionist Party voted against the agreement, though the vote in the assembly was overwhelmingly in favour (88–17). The powers would be devolved on April 12.March 14, 2010Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, declares at the party’s spring conference that he is “not the kingmaker” in the upcoming election and that the party is the best opportunity for voters to call for “real change.” The kingmaker statement comes amid polls suggesting that a hung Parliament, in which no party would gain an absolute majority, is a likely outcome and that the Liberal Democrats could hold the balance of power.March 15, 2010Ashok Kumar, the Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, is found dead. The Indian-born MP, who served as an aide to Hilary Benn, the secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs, was called by his boss a “doughty fighter for his constituents” and by fellow Labour MP Sir Stuart Bell a parliamentarian of “untarnished reputation.” March 24, 2010Alistair Darling, the chancellor of the Exchequer, unveils the preelection budget. Among its provisions are no major immediate spending cuts but halving the budget deficit over four years and eliminating the stamp duty on homes costing £250,000 for first-time home buyers (but raising the duty from 4 percent to 5 percent for homes costing £1 million or more). Conservative leader David Cameron accuses the government of stealing some Tory policies (such as the stamp duty), while Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg accuses the government and the Conservatives of being “in denial” about the scale of spending cuts needed.March 29, 2010Alistair Darling, the chancellor of the Exchequer, and his two counterparts, Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne and Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, participate in a televised “chancellors debate.” It is a precursor of the unprecedented three televised leaders debates scheduled for the upcoming election.April 6, 2010Saying “Let’s go to it,” Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces that the general election will be held on May 6. April 7, 2010Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron duel at the dispatch box for the last prime minister’s question session before the election. April 15, 2010Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron, and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg meet in the first of three televised debates. Alastair Stewart of ITV moderates the domestic-focused debate—the first-ever televised prime ministerial debate in British election campaign history. April 19, 2010In the aftermath of his strong debate performance, Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrats move into second place for the first time in a poll of polls. The Conservatives top the poll, with 33 percent, with the Liberal Democrats at 30 and Labour at 28 percent. Because of Britain’s first-past-the-post system, analysts say that such a result would likely leave Labour with the most seats but without a majority. April 22, 2010Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron, and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg meet in a debate, televised on Sky News, on foreign affairs. The debate is moderated by Adam Boulton.April 28, 2010Following a campaign walkabout in Rochdale, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is asked about immigration by a local woman and is caught on an open microphone referring to her as a “bigoted woman.” The incident is immediately labeled a “catastrophe” for Brown, who subsequently returns to the woman’s residence to apologize in person. April 29, 2010David Dimbleby of the BBC moderates the third and final debate between Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron, and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. The event focuses primarily on the economy.May 6, 2010British voters head to the polls in the general election of 2010, delivering a hung Parliament for the first time since 1974.May 10, 2010As negotiations continue between David Cameron and Nick Clegg on an agreement that would enable Cameron to become prime minister, Gordon Brown announces his intention to resign as Labour leader.May 11, 2010Gordon Brown announces that he will tender his resignation as prime minister to Queen Elizabeth II and will ask her to invite David Cameron to form a government. Cameron subsequently becomes prime minister of the United Kingdom—the youngest leader of the country since 1812. Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats becomes deputy prime minister.

Prime ministers of the United Kingdom

The political party and term of office of each British prime minister are provided in the table.